Our state symbols

It’s easy to love statesymbols that are plants,animals, stones or

fossils. But soil?“That’s the problem —

most people think soil isdirt,” said Del Mokma, asoil scientist at MichiganState University.

“They don’t appreciatethe differences.”

Mokma does. He’s crazyabout dirt — er, soil —which includes gravel, sand,silt and clay. So the Yakasked Mokma to show himsome Kalkaska sand —and help him appreciateMichigan’s least-lovedstate symbol.

Mokma took him toHartwick Pines State Parkto see a pit that twoother soil lovers had dug ina quiet, needle-strewn pineforest. At first sight, thethree-foot-deep holelooked a little creepy. Butthe Yak was soon mesmerized by the sand inside.

It looked a lot different from the stuff found at Michiganbeaches and sand dunes. That sand is pretty much one color— golden.

This sand was multi-colored; it looked like a sand painting— as dark as a lion’s mane near the surface, increasinglylighter as the eye traveled downward.

“At time zero — right after the glaciers left 12,000 yearsago — we had material like this at the surface,” saidMokma, pointing to the lightest sand at the bottom.

“It was sand — light golden in color because there wasiron in the sand grains.”

After the glacial waters receded, plants and trees grewand dropped leaves and needles to the forest floor. The plantmaterial decomposed, producing carbon and acidsthat reacted with minerals in the sand. The mix movedinto the subsoil, producing the dark lion’s mane, whichis why Kalkaska sand is easily distinguished from say,Rubicon, another kind of sand in the park.

“We think Kalkaska sand is very, very beautiful,” saidMarty Kroell, one of the two other

Michigan soilscientists, who both

work for the U.S.Department ofAgriculture.

“That’s onereason we picked

it — for eyeappeal.”

And thesand, which

was first identified in 1927 in Kalkaska County, can befound in about 33 counties in both the Upper and LowerPeninsulas. How many kinds of soil are there in Michigan?About 500, probably more than half of them sand, andnew soils could still be found, said Mokma.

“There’s a story behind every one of them,” he said. “Inthe world, we’ve divided soils into 12 orders, or groups, andMichigan has six. To have half of the world’s major kinds ofsoil is quite unique.”

The Kalkaska sand at Hartwick Pines reaches at least15 feet below ground and possibly twice that far, saidKroell.

Sand untouched by time. What a lovely state symbol.

By Patricia Chargot

TUEBOR

Like the robin, the painted turtle, thewhite-tailed deer and the appleblossom, the white pine tree is

common throughout Michigan — and muchof the eastern United States.

Many people have one in their backyard.But to truly appreciate why

Pinus strobus was chosen asMichigan’s official tree— from among 113native species — youhave to visit one of thestate’s last remaining old-growth forests.

So the Yak headed north to Hartwick PinesState Park, near Grayling, to see the largeststand of uncut white pines in the LowerPeninsula — and to revisit the famousMonarch, the park’s largest pine, which hehadn’t seen in more than a decade.

It was dead! It had stood 155 feet tall,the height of a 15-story building. Severelydamaged in 1992 by winds that sheared offits top, the tree was pronounced dead fouryears later when park officials realized ithad stopped growing — after more than300 years! Now the park’s tallest old pine— of those measured; there are about 100— is a 158-footer that is nearby butunmarked. “We’re not going to nameanother Monarch because we don’t wantpeople to come here to see just one tree,”said park historian Rob Burg.

“That’s what they did for years — andthis whole place is special.”

The old forest feels primeval, as if it hasexisted for all time. In fact, the giant pinesand other old trees probably are the offspring ofearlier trees that were even older and taller — andeventually died and toppled.

“This central Michigan area — Crawford andOtsego counties — was the last place to be logged inthe Lower Peninsula,” said park interpreter CraigCasmer.

Between 1834 and 1897, about 160 million treeswere cut in Michigan, possibly more, he said.

Michigan provided most of the lumber that wasneeded to rebuild Chicago after Mrs. O’Leary’s cow issaid to have kicked over a lantern, starting a fire thatdestroyed much of the city.

The most prized boards were white pine,which had few knots, or scars from lowerbranches.

That’s because the trees didn’t have manylower branches. They were mostly trunk,growing so close together that onlybranches near the top of the canopyreceived sunlight.

That’s what the park’s old pines still looklike. The park’s new, unmarked Monarch isprobably 100 feet of trunk and 50-plus feetof branches and needles, said Casmer.

The needles were so high up the Yak couldbarely see them. But he could hear them.

“Whispering pines — that’s what theNative Americans called them,” he said.

Looking up, the Yak could see themajestic crown gently swaying in the wind.

Close up, the white pine’s needles are softand delicate.

“You feel like you want to pet them, like abig shaggy dog — and I have,” said PatrickFields, a biologist and president of the

Michigan Botanical Club. “These trees are like livingtime machines. They were alive hundreds of years agoand they’re still with us.

“It’s like talking to your great-great-grandmother— to think of the history that these trees haveendured is exciting and intriguing and should bring ona reverence.

“Go in, sit down, listen to the wind blowing throughthe needles way up high and just look at nature — allthe different plants and animals living together.”

By Patricia Chargot

State Flower:Apple BlossomNamed in 1897

These pines are among the last surviving oldwhite pines in Michigan. They tower above theMertz Trail at Hartwick Pines State Park.

State Fish: Brook Trout

Named in 1988 State Flag:Michigan’s third since

becoming a state,adopted in 1911.

State Coat of Arms:Adopted in 1911It’s on the flag.

State Wildflower: Dwarf Lake IrisNamed in 1998

State Gem: Greenstone

(Chlorastrolite)Named in 1972

State Tree: White Pine

Named in 1955

State Soil: Kalkaska SandNamed in 1990

State Reptile:Painted Turtle

Named in 1995 after acampaign led by a group

of Niles fifth-graders

State Game Mammal: White-tailed Deer

Named in 1997 after acampaign by Zeeland

fourth-graders

State Stone: Petoskey StoneNamed in 1965

State Fossil: Mastodon

Named in 2002 aftera campaign by a groupof Ann Arbor eighth-

graders

State Bird:Robin

(Turdus migratorius)Named in 1931 Soil scientist Marty Kroell shovels up some Kalkaska sand.

PHOTOS BY MARY SCHROEDERSoil scientist Del Mokma shows the Yak one of nature’s most beautiful sand paintings.

Kalkaskasand can befound inabout 33Michigancounties,marked herein brown.

Until recently, the largest known white pine in both Michigan and the United States wasat Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park in the western Upper Peninsula. When itwas last measured in 1998, it had a 200-inch girth and was 150 feet tall, though one of

its main twin trunks had broken off. Last spring, a park interpreter noticed the other trunkwas gone, too — and with it, the rest of the tree’s once magnificent crown. Technically, the

tree is still alive, but just barely.Source: Woody Ehrle, coordinator of the state’s big tree data list.

NativeAmericans feltwhite pineswhisper. TheYak did, too. PHOTOS BY MARY SCHROEDER

White pinesare easy to

spot becausethey’re the

only Michigantree whose

needles growin bundles of

five. If youhave any

doubt aboutwhat you’re

looking at, allyou have todo is count.

HartwickPines

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DETROIT FREE PRESS | WWW.YAKSCORNER.COM4 THURSDAY, MAY 16, 2002 5